Touching Darkness
by The Lady of the Mists
Summary: There was another Slayer that Angel met before Buffy . . . and during his time as Angelus, he turned her and through a stroke of luck, Arianna Thornton managed to keep her soul. This is her story.
1. Arianna the Vampire Slayer

**Touching Darkness**

by the Lady of the Mists

Chapter One: Arianna the Vampire Slayer

_London, England 1858_

Arianna Thornton gripped the stake she held tightly as she looked over her shoulder, certain that she was being followed. Her long brown hair was pulled into a braid as she slipped through the streets of London, her blue-green gaze searching her surroundings. It had been two years since all of this had started, two years since she had been approached by Simon Granger, who told her of the dangerous world she had inherited. Two years since she had been told that her life could end shortly because of the life she didn't choose.

But that didn't mean that she was going to give it all up. She was the Slayer, the one girl in the world who had the strength and skill to hunt those who walked the night. And like it or not, she couldn't give it up, because that meant leaving the world without its protector.

But the loneliness that came with it, not being able to tell her friends, her family, her fiancé about who and what she was, that was almost more than Arianna could bear sometimes. She sighed, thinking about the man that she was supposed to marry in two days.

She and Evan had been betrothed since before she could remember, their union being an alliance between their two families, nothing more. But Evan had done something unexpected when the preparations for their wedding began to move forward: he'd fallen in love with her. His confession had broken her heart, because even though she had a duty to her family and would go through with the marriage, she didn't love him. She had never met anyone who could make her heart soar. And if Arianna was honest with herself, she didn't think she could love anyone who didn't accept her for who she was and who would help her fight the war she was involved in.

And honestly, where was she going to find someone like that? Arianna shook her head as she slipped through the graveyard, taking a shortcut and hurrying into the mausoleum, closing the door behind her before she ducked into a hiding place, waiting for the danger to make its way. Whatever she was sensing, it was bound to make its appearance. Either that or she'd wait here until morning when the sun was up. Of course, she'd have to hear a lecture from her father when she got back home.

The door slowly opened and a figure walked in. Arianna's eyes narrowed the moment that she saw the vampire that had entered, tightening her grip on her stake as she slipped further into her hiding place, keeping her attention focused solely on him.

"Come on, Arianna," he said mockingly, looking around the mausoleum carefully. "I know that you're in here. You don't want to keep me waiting all night, do you?"

"Hello, Angelus," Arianna said quietly, her voice calm as she climbed into view, folding her arms across her chest as she surveyed the man—no, correct that, _monster_—known as the Scourge of Europe. "Long time, no see."

Angelus grinned evilly. "What can I say? I like to keep you on your toes. Did you miss me?"

"Can't say that I have."

"Aww, now you've gone and hurt my feelings," he said mockingly as he advanced towards her. "Heard the plans for your wedding have gone through while I was gone. Congratulations, by the way. Must be a prize to catch your eye." He grinned as they circled one another. "It's a shame that I have to miss that. But assuming that you'll survive to see him, give him my best."

Arianna sighed. "Are you here to kill me or are we going to sit here talking all night?" She placed her hands on her hips, well aware that they weren't alone.

"You know I like you, Arianna. Wouldn't go to all of this trouble if I didn't." He grinned. "I might have a present for you, though."

"I bet you do," Arianna agreed, whipping around and staking the vampire that had been so close to biting her neck. _Too close,_ she thought as she realised just how close he'd been.

She looked at Angelus, annoyance rising through her. "You're trying to get your vampire lackeys to do me in? What, have you lost the courage to do it yourself, Angelus?"

"I knew he would've had gotten you. Actually, he was just kind of annoying me. Figured you could take care of the problem for me." His smirk was enough to make Arianna want to heave. "Anyway . . . where was I?"

"How much trouble you're giving me?" Arianna suggested lightly as they still circled around each other. "You've already done enough damage."

"You don't know the half of it." Arianna stopped where she was, eyeing Angelus carefully, trying to figure out if this was a trick. What was he up to? "I have gotten a little present that I really think you're going to kill me over."

Tremors went down Arianna's spine. "What have you done?"

"Nothing much. Just took a little trip to your sister's house, which is absolutely beautiful, by the way. I like the painting over the fireplace. It's quite breathtaking." Arianna swallowed; there was no way that he could have known about the painting unless he'd been in her sister Vivien's house. "That was your work, wasn't it? It had your initials in the right corner."

There was no way that Arianna could think coherently at the moment. "Angelus, if you've laid a hand on them . . ."

He actually laughed then. "Oh, come on, Ari, I'm not going to hurt them. Not yet, anyway," he added in a quiet, menacing voice. "Just shook your sister up a little bit. And that husband of hers . . . quite a charmer. Of course, think I might have gotten him riled up when I said we've spent quite a few nights together . . . he probably took it the wrong way."

Arianna glared at him, anger rising through her. More than once, her family had noticed that she had been missing from her bed during the night and she had barely managed to avoid being detected. She suspected that her brother, Thomas, knew something, but he kept his mouth shut about it and soothed their father before his temper got out of control.

"Are you specifically trying to cause problems for me?" she demanded and he grinned even more wildly. "Angelus . . . I swear, one day, I am going to kill you."

"One day, Arianna, you're going to be standing by my side," Angelus taunted and he walked away from the Slayer, his hands placed calmly into his pockets. "You'll see."

"The only way that'll happen, Angelus, is when you get a soul," Arianna called after him. "And maybe some manners."

"We'll see." Angelus walked away from the crypt. "If you'll excuse me, I have some unfinished business to attend to before dawn. And I daresay that big sister of yours is going to be mightily angry with you tomorrow morning, so I suggest that you get some sleep. You might need it."

--

"How could you be so irresponsible?" Vivien Brandon, Thornton as was, was glaring at Arianna as the younger of the two sisters sat at her vanity, brushing out her long dark hair while sunlight poured into the room, warming her skin. "Honestly, Arianna, I don't know what's gotten into you . . . sneaking out in the middle of the night to be with that man . . ."

"I told you, Vivien," Arianna said, her tone sharp, "he's just a man who wants to cause trouble. He means nothing to me and I most certainly have not been sneaking out to meet with him. That is the last thing I want to do."

Vivien studied her carefully, trying to detect any lies, which Arianna knew she wouldn't. Every word that she was saying was the truth. The only kind of the relationship that existed between her and Angelus was enemies to the core and she would love nothing more than to drive a stake through his heart.

"All right," she said at long last, "but you have to at least tell me where you've been sneaking out to these past few years. Arianna, if you have done something . . . unseemly, then it has to stop. You're getting married in a few days and the last thing that we need is for you to ruin everything by this. What has been going on?"

"You would never believe me," Arianna replied quietly. And she knew that her sister wouldn't. She barely believed it, sometimes.

Vivien scoffed. "Oh, please, Arianna. Don't pretend that it's some big secret that you would have to be crazy to believe. Maybe not that horrid man, but you _have_ met someone, haven't you? It's bound to happen, you're nineteen and young. You don't think that I fell in love before I married Edward? I did, but I knew better than to let my emotions get in the way of my duty."

"When have I ever not done my duty?" Arianna replied. Vivien paused. "Perhaps I'm not the most perfect daughter that Father could have had, maybe I do things that no other girl will consider doing, but in the end, haven't I always come through? Haven't I always done things for the best of my family?"

Vivien slowly nodded as she headed towards the door. "I suppose you have," she admitted, pausing at the door. "Just make sure that it doesn't stop. Evan and you are meant to be together. And he loves you."

"I know." Arianna sighed as she laid her brush down, staring into her mirror for a moment. "I just don't love him." She stood up and headed downstairs to meet and greet with the family and friends that had come in town for the wedding, some of whom she hadn't seen for years, but the one that she needed to talk to was standing at the food table, chatting with one of her scholarly cousins.

"Arianna! Congratulations, cousin," he said as he kissed her knuckles. "I wish you both many happy years."

"Thank you," Arianna told him before looking at her Watcher Simon Granger. "May I speak with you for a moment?" He nodded and they both headed outdoors, where they wouldn't be disturbed.

"How did everything go last night?" he asked conversationally, as though they were discussing the weather.

With a small sigh, Arianna turned to face her Watcher, her face set in stone. "Angelus is back," she said flatly. Simon's face paled considerably, but he said nothing. "I knew he would come back eventually, but I didn't think it was going to be so soon. Simon, he's planning something, I just don't know what. Something possibly very dangerous."

"Angelus is dangerous to everyone he touches," Simon said calmly, placing a reassuring hand on the apprehensive Slayer. "Keep an eye out, Arianna. With Angelus back, it can only mean that he will be trying to keep you off balance."

"He also has an invitation to Vivien's house." Simon froze at that and he turned to look at her.

"Are you sure?"

"He knew exactly where the painting that I gave to her for her last birthday was placed; there's no way that he could have known that without an invitation." Arianna sighed, running her hand over her face. "Simon, what am I going to do?"

"For now, don't worry about anything. Angelus will attack, as he always does. Be prepared, we'll continue training, but tomorrow, you will be getting married and I want that to be a happy day for you. You haven't had very many these past few years."

Arianna opened her mouth to argue, but then decided against it; he was right, anyway. "All right," she said at long last, drawing her shawl tighter around her. "Shall we go back inside, then?"

"Yes, the hostess cannot be absent for very long." Simon smiled as they walked back inside of the house.

As she stepped on the porch, Arianna was sure that she felt someone watching her and she glanced behind her, searching the surroundings carefully before looking towards the sky. It was a slightly overcast day, so vampires could go out if they could avoid direct sunlight, but the sun still peaked out every once in awhile, so only a very brave—or dangerous—vampire would dare such an attempt.

Dismissing it as her imagination, Arianna headed inside with her Watcher to continue the festivities of her last day as an unmarried woman . . . and unknowingly, her last day as a human.

--

Arianna hardly recognised herself when she stared into the mirror, gazing at her reflection. The gown was pure white, almost radiating in the weak sunlight, and flowed around her like a waterfall. Her long brown hair hung free and a circlet of white flowers rested around her head. The girl that stood before her bore no sign of being the mythical Chosen One, but rather just a young woman on her wedding day.

And that's all today was supposed to be.

A knock came on the door and Arianna looked up to find her brother standing in the doorway. "Oh, forgive me, Princess, I was looking for my sister," Thomas said, shaking his head in amazement. Arianna couldn't help but smile at him. "You look beautiful, sister."

"Thank you," Arianna said, hugging him as he bent over her. "Is Father really not coming?"

"You know him. If he can avoid anything to do with his children, then he will. But don't worry, I'll be happy to escort you down the aisle."

"I wasn't worried," Arianna said with a smile up at him. "I knew that I could always depend on you." He smiled as he tucked her hand underneath his arm and led her out towards where the ceremony was about to start. Her bridesmaids were all standing in a row.

"But you did know that you were running a tad late?" Thomas told her, with the old teasing grin.

"The bride is never later, everyone else is simply early," Arianna reminded him. Thomas laughed as the music started to begin and her bridesmaids began their long walk down the aisle.

"By the way, do you really think you're going to pull this off?" Thomas whispered to her. She looked at him, bewildered. "The Slayer thing. You really think you can continue it and be a wife as well?"

"How do you—"

"Simon told me, after I started asking too many questions. That's not the point, though. The point is that, how are you going to explain to your husband about being gone night after night? Arianna, you know that marriage is about sacrifice and maybe you should think about—"

"I can't do that, Thomas," Arianna said, her voice quiet, but sharp. She glared at her brother. "The Slayer is part of who I am and I can't just stop. The only way that I could give up being the Slayer is if I get killed. One Slayer dies and the next one is called." Thomas's eyes widened as he heard that. "And if I don't fight, then I would be sacrificing something. The world. It would be left defenceless. Is that what you want?"

"It's not about what I want—"

Before either one of them could continue the argument, while the music was continuing to play, they all heard screams coming from the church. Arianna's blood froze; those were the kind of screams that came from people who'd just seen the true faces of vampires. She'd heard it often enough when hunting them after dark.

She looked behind Thomas, towards the open window and her heart sank; she'd forgotten that today was a dark and stormy day. The entire sky had blocked out the deadly sun, allowing vampires to walk around during the day.

"Go find Simon," Arianna ordered her brother before she raced into the church, grabbing a torch as she ran, finding the entire church filled with vampires. Waving the fire at the nearest vampire, she turned him into flames and then to dust before moving on to the next one.

"Now, this looks like fun." Arianna spun around to find Angelus behind her, a menacing smile on his face. "Now . . . I am finally going to finish this for good, Arianna. Time to dance."

"You're right," Arianna agreed as they circled one another. "It is time that this was finished." His human guise slipped away, replaced by the demonic one.

_This isn't going to be easy,_ she thought miserably as she spun around in her wedding dress, striking at Angelus every way she could and he delivered equal blows. Both of them blocked every move, every blow, every strike. Neither one of them were winning, but neither one was losing.

But then, Arianna made one critical mistake. She heard a scream of pain that she recognised and turned in the direction of her sister. And Angelus took her distraction and turned it to his advantage.

Arianna gasped as she felt his fangs pierce her neck, trying to strike at him, but not in the position to do so. She felt herself getting weaker and weaker . . . and the last thing that she remembered was the taste of blood in her mouth before everything went dark.


	2. Two Ensouled Vampires

**Touching Darkness**

by the Lady of the Mists

Chapter Two: Two Ensouled Vampires

_Arianna could feel herself floating upwards, a blissful smile on her face as she saw the young women that surrounded her, all of them wearing sad smile when they looked at her. Slayers, the ones who had come before, every one of them that had carried the legacy of being the Chosen One, just as she had. She smiled towards them, trying to walk towards them, to whatever lay ahead, but they blocked her path, preventing her from joining them. _

_"It's not your time, sister." The Slayer that had spoken was a redhead, regarding her with a quiet, sorrowful smile on her face. "It's not time for you to join us yet. And it won't be . . . not for many, many years. You must return, lest you unleash a demon too deadly and dangerous to speak of." _

_"What do you mean?" _

_"Do you not remember?" _

_Tilting her head, Arianna tried to think, to remember what had occurred before she had arrived here. The wedding . . . Angelus had crashed it with some of his friends and they'd . . . she remembered fighting with him, but Vivien had screamed for help. _

_And she had stupidly looked for her sister just in time to see her being drained of blood by Darla, Angelus' sire and lover, before Angelus himself had grabbed her from behind and drank from her. She could remember the feel of his fangs piercing her neck. _

_With a small shiver, she recalled, in those last few coherent moments, when she had the taste of blood in her mouth. Arianna slammed her eyes shut, trying to block out the feeling, but it was no use. "It's me," she whispered softly. "The demon that's going to be unleashed. It's me. Angelus killed me. He turned me." _

_"And if your soul does not return to your body, then the demon will be uncontrollable. Both Slayer and vampire," the redhead Slayer replied, keeping her gaze on her. "Will you return to your dead body, to keep the demon from being unleashed? Will you go to live like our prey and continue to fight those who walk the night, though you will be forced to walk with them?" _

_Become a vampire . . . with a soul. She would still have her conscious, her remorse, the feelings that made her human . . . Arianna knew that it was the only way to keep the demon from fully taking over her body. _

_"I will," she whispered. The redhead Slayer smiled sadly and raised her hand to stroke her cheek. _

_"Good luck, sister," she whispered and gave her a small push, thrusting her back into the body that was unfamiliar to her now. It was her body, yes, but it also carried a demon within it now. _

Arianna let out a small groan, a dizzy feeling overcoming her as she tried for a moment to sense where she was. There were people around her, vampires, both of them waiting eagerly for her to awaken. She listened, able to hear _everything_. There was a human nearby; she could hear his heartbeat that was beating rapidly in anticipation, in fear.

"She's going to be the most powerful vampire in history," a familiar voice said. Angelus! "Both Slayer and vampire. Can't wait to see what she'll do."

A laugh rang out near him. "It'll be a turn of events. Never has anyone ever dared to turn a Slayer before, Angelus." That was Darla's voice, Arianna realised, not moving, not opening her eyes. She wanted to hear what was going on before she alerted them to her awakening.

"We're going to be infamous, my love."

"We already are," Darla reminded him before sighing. "If she's going to wake up, she'd better do it soon. Dawn's going to be in a few hours and I want to get something to eat before then."

"Feel free, Darla. I want to be here when she wakes up."

Arianna listened to the footsteps that left the room and then Angelus stood up, his boots pacing across the room, moving lighter than any human, but Arianna could still hear every step that he made, thanks to her new vampire hearing.

She could hear heavy breathing that she knew didn't come from Angelus. He was dead, a vampire, and therefore he didn't need to breathe. But the human, whoever he was, did.

"Ari . . ." Angelus' voice was taunting and seductive as he knelt down beside her, his hand moving through her hair. She resisted the urge to cringe. "Won't you wake up? I've got a little present for you and I'm sure that you're hungry enough for it."

Arianna kicked upward, sending him flying backwards, and she scrambled to her feet, her eyes flying open as she took a defensive position, watching Angelus' every move as she glanced towards the human that was sitting tied to the chair.

"Thomas," she whispered.

Her brother's eyes were wide and fearful, his face covered with bruises and he was sitting painfully, which made her suspect broken ribs. She swallowed against the urge, refusing to drink any blood from a human as she turned towards Angelus, who looked bewildered as he climbed to his feet.

"Now _that_ I wasn't expecting," he commented as he dusted off his clothes, looking towards her. "But I guess you're still the Slayer at the core, aren't you, Arianna?"

"More than you think," she snapped as she glanced once again at Thomas. Angelus noticed where her attention had turned and a smirk played across his face.

"Yes . . ." he said softly, nodding encouragingly. "That's it. Drink and you'll feel a whole lot better. And then you'll finally be one of us." He took a step towards her. "Drink, Arianna."

She glared at him. "No." At his shocked look, she raced to Thomas and yanked the ropes off of Thomas, freeing him. "Go!" she ordered. "Find Simon and get out of here. Out of town, out of this country, anywhere but here! Go!" she shouted. Thomas threw one last, desperate look at her before he fled, moving more slowly due to his injuries.

Arianna turned to face Angelus, who seemed at last to understand the events that were taking place. "You've still got your soul," he whispered, a horrified look crossing his face. He seemed to realise what he had done here. He had given the world two protectors: one would be the Slayer who would continue the Slayer line and the other, Arianna, would be an immortal Slayer, always continuing the fight, even though she was condemned to walk the night like other vampires.

"If you go after any of my family ever again, I promise you, I will kill you, Angelus," Arianna warned. "I told you once before, I will never fight next to you, not unless you get a soul and manners. And I intend to keep that promise." Without another word, she walked from the room, leaving Angelus to his shock and disbelief.

That was the last time that she ever saw the soulless Angelus. And she never heard from her brother or Watcher ever again.

--

_Paris, France 1901_

Climbing into the small house that she lived in, Arianna pulled off her coat, setting it down on the coat rack by the door and removed the stakes that she had stashed underneath it, placing them in the pockets of the coat before walking into the kitchen, pausing at the entryway, catching the sensation of a vampire and smelling someone there as well. But instead of commenting on it, she just continued into the kitchen, lighting a fire in the hearth, waiting until it was warm enough to boil some water.

Forty-seven years had passed since her changing and in those years, Arianna Thornton hadn't aged a day. Her brown hair was still as radiant and curly and lively as it had the first day that Angelus had met her and he'd declared his own personal war on her. Arianna hadn't seen him since that day when she'd threatened to kill him if he came anywhere near her family again, but she'd kept track of his whereabouts, to make sure that he made good of her threat.

But about three years ago, the strangest thing happened. He'd been in Romania with Darla and then, for some odd reason, the two had separated, Darla leaving with Drusilla and Spike and Angelus had gone off on his own. Even stranger, she hadn't heard anything about him hunting humans or causing mass destruction as he had been. Arianna hadn't had a clue as to what this meant, but it worried her. A vampire like Angelus didn't just stop hunting for no particular reason.

Arianna sighed, pushing all thoughts of her sire away from her mind as she removed the teakettle, preparing a hot cup of tea. After a night of patrolling, she really needed a cup of tea. Even though it didn't taste the same as it did when she was human, it still calmed her, settled her.

Setting the teakettle on the table, Arianna was well aware that someone was standing behind her, slowly making his way towards her as she spun around, tackling the man as he took another step and she pinned him against the wall before she saw his face.

"Angelus?!" she gasped in surprise, taking a step back. The dark-haired vampire looked down at her fearfully, only a vague trace of who he'd been in his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I . . ." Angelus swallowed, looking down, avoiding her blue-green eyes to stare at the floor. "I need your help," he whispered. Arianna let out a small, disbelieving laugh as she heard that. "Please, Arianna . . . help me."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Arianna stared him down. "That's a new word for you, please. I don't think I've ever heard you say please before in all the time that I've known you." She shook her head as she walked away from Angelus, walking towards the door. "You can go."

He looked at her. "I know that I hurt you," he whispered, his voice shaking. "And I don't have any right to ask—"

"You're right, you don't," Arianna agreed. "In fact, you've got a lot of nerve to come here after what you did, asking me for my help. Don't come here looking for me again, because if you do, then I'm going to follow through on the threat I gave you that night all those years ago." Angelus looked down, the shame evident in his face. "Now get out of my house."

Angelus looked at her for a moment, opened his mouth, then shut it and slowly trudged towards the door, pausing at it and looking at her, tears of shame and self-loathing in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered jerkily before moving out the door, his shoulders hunched over, as though trying to hide from the world.

Arianna frowned as she watched him go, a small part of her wanting to call him back and help him, but this was Angelus, for crying out loud! The only help that he had ever wanted from her was to for her to assist him in his massacre across Europe. But she had never heard him apologise before and the look in his eyes was all too real. He had meant his words, she knew. He was sorry for what he'd done.

Her curiosity got the better of her and Arianna grabbed her coat, pulling it on as she headed out the door. There was still a good few hours before sunrise; she had plenty of time.

Arianna climbed up the ladder to reach the top of the roofs and leaped across the roofs, following Angelus as he walked through the streets, trying to find a safe place until the following evening. He still walked with his coat tight around him, hunched over so that nobody could look at him. She frowned slightly as she watched him, her eyes softening. This wasn't the Scourge of Europe she was following; this was a man in real pain and anguish.

Another odd word when referring to Angelus; man. She hadn't thought of him as a man for so many years. With his reputation, there were few who thought of him of anything but a monster and Arianna was one of them. But now, as she watched him, she knew that this was the image of a man in pain.

Arianna looked up when she caught the faint smell of smoke and fire and heard the screams coming from a building nearby. She sucked in her breath as she saw the building on fire and jumped down on the street, landing on her feet before running towards the direction of the danger.

People were screaming, crying, looking for their loved ones while others were trying to douse the flames. A Spanish woman was screaming, pointing towards the building, desperately trying to get someone to understand. Arianna grabbed her as she fell to her knees. "What happened?" she asked in Spanish. The woman's eyes lit up at the familiar tongue.

"There was an accident in the fireplace," she replied in the same language. "They didn't clean it well enough. Please, my daughter is still inside!"

"Where?"

She pointed towards the top floor, which was about to cave in. "That room on the corner there! Please, she's only a baby!" The woman's begging tone left no other choice, had Arianna even thought about leaving.

Plunging forward, Arianna leaped over burning wood that had collapsed outside of the door and raced inside, unaware that there was someone following her. Moving quickly to avoid the flames that would turn her effectively into dust, Arianna climbed up the stairs, trying to smell the fear that was doubtlessly radiating off of the child, but the smoke blocked her lungs from the fear.

"Arianna, move!"

Before she could look for the danger, someone tackled her, narrowly missing the beam that plunged through the floor in the exact place where she had been standing only moments before. She gasped in surprise as she saw Angelus lying next to her, his chest heaving. "What are you—" she began, then shook her head. "Never mind. Come on."

"We've got to get out of here. The building's about to go," Angelus told her, helping her up. She shook her head and moved past him, heading towards the apartment the woman had pointed out. "Arianna, are you crazy! We've got to get out of here!"

"There's a baby in there!" Arianna retorted, blue-green eyes flashing. "Save your own skin if you want to, Angelus. That's what you're best at."

She ignored him as she fled into the room, ducking as embers showered the room, but was surprised when she realised Angelus was following her, his brown eyes scanning the room. "There!" he whispered, pointing at the closet.

Arianna threw him a look, but raced towards the closet, kicking it open and scooping up the little girl that was inside. "All right, let's go," she said, looking at Angelus. But before either one of them could move, the door was blocked by the roof caving in slightly.

She glanced at Angelus before looking at the window. "Ready?" she asked him, tightening her grip on the child. He nodded and both of them ran forward, diving through the window, smashing it into bits as they fell through the air towards the watching Frenchmen.

Landing gracefully on her feet, Arianna barely had time to react before the mother raced through the crowd, scooping her child up into her arms, holding her tightly. "Thank you, thank you," she whispered in Spanish.

Looking at Angelus, Arianna placed her hands on her hips. "We need to talk," she told him quietly.


	3. Helping Angel

**Touching Darkness**

by the Lady of the Mists

Chapter Three: Helping Angel

Arianna looked down at Angel, his face tormented in his sleep. It had taken her a long time—okay, ten or twelve hours—for him to convince her that he wasn't the vampire that had tortured her for so long and had forced her to become the thing that she hunted. But eventually, she had to face the fact that it wasn't Angelus standing before her, but rather Angel, the ensouled vampire . . . just like she was.

Moving over to the chest, Arianna lifted out a blanket and draped it over Angel, drawing it up over him as he slept. Sitting down in a chair next to him, Arianna watched him for a long moment, her thoughts drifting into the past as she watched his tormented face.

_"I told you once before, the only way that I'll fight by your side is if you get a soul and some manners." _

Fighting a small smile, Arianna shook her head in amusement. Who would have thought that she'd turn out to be right? She certainly hadn't been expecting that when she'd said the words.

Angel had told her the story of what had happened, though she had to pry it out of him. He and Darla had been in Romania, as she'd heard from the demon grapevine, and Darla had captured a gypsy girl as a present for him, the favourite daughter of the clan. When they learned of his deeds, the elders conjured up the perfect punishment for him; they restored his soul.

Arianna didn't know how long she'd sat there, but the next thing that she knew, she was waking up with a crick in her neck for sitting in one place for so long. Angel was already awake, sitting in another chair across the room, curled up into a ball, his tortured brown eyes watching her wildly.

"Angel?" Arianna asked softly, standing up to walk over to her sire, squatting down next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He flinched at her touch, trying to jerk away, but she tightened her grip on it. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you."

"How can you stand it?" he whispered. "I . . . I _hurt_ you. I did so many terrible things to you and turned you into something . . . I turned you into a _demon_, the thing you were meant to stop, forced you to endure what vampires have to survive on. How can you stand to be anywhere near me, after what I did to you?"

"It wasn't you," Arianna told him, her voice gentle and kind. "Angel, you didn't have a soul then; it wasn't your fault."

"I _killed_ you!" Angel burst out. "I killed you and led those vampires to ruin your wedding! Darla killed your sister, your husband . . . and I would've gleefully watched you kill your brother if you hadn't kept your soul!" A small sob escaped from him and he pushed himself into a tighter ball. "I did all of that to you and more . . ."

"Well, I forgive you." Her own words surprised Arianna and Angel looked up at her with an almost hopeful look on his face.

"You do?"

"Of course," Arianna assured him. She placed a hand on his arm. "Come on, let's go get you something to eat. It's probably been awhile since you've fed and it's not a good idea to go so long without feeding." She shook her head, grimacing slightly. "Believe me, I know," she told him as she pulled him up, leading him out of the room and down to the nearby butcher, where she acquired several pints of pig's blood.

Arianna wasn't sure how she was able to forgive him so readily, especially considering her history with him, but what she said was true: he wasn't the same person that he'd been when they'd waged war against one another in the streets of London. The soul made all the difference. Without it, she would have just been another vampire that hunted humans, without a conscious, without remorse, without regret.

But she had it easy. To be cursed with a soul after a hundred and fifty years of a dark and bloody history . . . Angel was going to need a lot of time to recover from the guilt and pain.

They were walking back to her house when Angel suddenly jerked, his face taking on an odd expression. "What?" she asked sharply, looking around and then she smelled it too. Blood. Human blood, coming from nearby. "Easy, Angel, just breathe." She placed a hand on his arm to steady him. "Take a couple deep breaths."

He was gripping her so painfully that if she had been human, then he probably would have ripped her arm off. "The blood," he whispered.

"I know," she said quietly, supporting him. "There's someone hurt. Go back to the house. I won't be long." Angel swallowed, but obeyed, moving through the streets, his shoulders hunched.

Suppressing a sigh, Arianna moved through the alleys, following the aroma of human blood.

"Is somebody here?" she called and received a loud groan in reply. Hurrying towards the sound, she found a young man lying in the alley, his leg covered in blood and twisted at an odd angle as she knelt down beside him. "Are you all right?"

"My leg . . ." he moaned, flinching as she touched it, grimacing as she felt the bone. "I think it's broken."

"It'll heal," she answered, glancing towards him. "It's not broken, just sprained. I'm more worried about this cut. How'd you get this, anyway?" she inquired as she tore a piece of her skirt, wiping away the blood so she could see the injury.

Arianna kept him talking as long as she could while she tended to the cut on his leg. When she finally got it under control, she helped him to the doctor's, who thanked her before she headed back to her house.

"Angel?" she asked when she closed the door behind her, hanging up her coat as she looked around. The dark-haired vampire was nowhere to be seen, she thought as she moved silently into her house, heading towards the bedroom.

She found him curled into a corner, trying to get away from the scent, the temptation of human blood. Arianna bit her lip before getting a fresh set of clothes and went to go change, careful to scrub off all the blood that had gotten on her hands when she was helping the young man.

When she returned, she found Angel still hovering in his corner, but he seemed to have relaxed a bit. "Can't smell it anymore," he mumbled.

"I had some on my hands," she explained. "Angel . . ."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, rocking back and forth. "I'm sorry, it was just . . . too much."

Arianna could think of nothing to say to this as she walked over to him, sitting down next to him. "You should eat what I bought," she said quietly. "You haven't been eating properly, Angel. At this rate, you're going to starve yourself to death and then you won't have any control over the demon. And what's gonna happen then?"

Angel flinched, but said nothing as he followed Arianna into the kitchen, accepting the glass that she offered him. "Drink," she instructed, making sure that he drank the entire thing. "Are you still hungry?" she asked when he had finished the glass. He nodded as she refilled it, letting him drink his fill. Only when he'd had three glasses did he seem to have had enough.

"I'm going out for a patrol," she told him, gently. "You can come if you want to." But she knew that he wouldn't; he wasn't in any condition to fight at the moment, even demons. "I'll see you later, then."

"Arianna," he said quietly when she was almost to the door. She turned around to look at him and he raised his head to look at her. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

"For what?"

"Everything."

Eyeing him carefully, Arianna folded her arms across her chest. "You're not going to do something crazy like try and stake yourself, are you?" she asked suspiciously and he shook his head. "Good. Because it's not going to do any good, not for you."

He looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Staking yourself won't solve anything," Arianna answered, shrugging. "I mean, if you live, then you have the chance to find redemption. You've got the chance to change things, Angel, and that's something that few vampires ever have. The chance to start over, make amends for the past. And maybe someday, you can find peace." She smiled at him and headed out the door, picking up a few stakes off of the table next to the door.

"Be careful," Angel said quietly.

"It's a walk in the park," Arianna said with a shrug as she closed the door behind her, heading down the street to the cemetery.

--

"I hate the park," Arianna grumbled a few hours later when she headed into the house, covered in muck, blood, and various other things that she really didn't want to try and identify. With a sigh, she opened the door to her house, shrugging off her coat before she frowned slightly, looking around the room.

"Angel?" she called, noticing his absence almost immediately. Wondering where he could be, Arianna went to go get cleaned up, thinking maybe he just stepped out for a few minutes.

After she'd scrubbed all of the slime off of her and gotten into clean clothes, Arianna sighed as she sensed the rising sun, heading towards her bedroom, where she noticed that there was a note lying on her pillow, with her name on the front, in Angel's handwriting.

Apprehension rose through her as she walked towards the bed, sitting down on it as she noted that the house was still strangely empty. Slowly, she opened the letter, still thinking about the ensouled version of her sire as she unfolded it.

_Arianna—_

_Thank you for everything that you've done for me for the past few weeks. You've done more for me than anyone ever has, but I can't impose on you. You deserve better than to be taking care of me like this. I'm going to America and hopefully, I'll be able to find a way to do what you said and find redemption one day. I don't know if I'll be able to do that anytime soon._

_Angel_

_P.S.: Look underneath your pillow. It's a thank you gift and an apology for everything that I put you through. I hope you like it. I remembered that lilies are your favourite._

Arianna felt tears stream through her eyes as she looked down at the letter before she wiped them away. In the few weeks that he'd been with her, she had gotten used to him being here. And she'd liked Angel being around; it was nice having someone around. The loneliness did get to her sometimes.

Setting aside the letter, Arianna reached underneath the pillow and withdrew and black box, the kind that jewellery was sold in. She frowned slightly and opened up the box, gasping in surprise as she found a beautiful silver necklace, with a pendent made of diamonds that was shaped in the form of a lily, her favourite flower.

"Angel . . ." she whispered softly as she lifted the necklace out of the box and undid the clasp, fastening it around her neck. It was beautiful, she thought with a smile as she held the lily in her hand, liking the way that it felt in her palm as she stood up, walking towards the window and withdrawing the curtain. Dawn was approaching.

"Thank you, Angel," she whispered softly, a small smile on her face. "Wherever you are, I hope that you're safe and that you're able to find your redemption."

With a small smile, Arianna walked over to the bed and climbed onto it, laying her head down on the pillow as she closed her eyes. It was incredible that in just a few days, the monster that she hated with every fibre in her being had changed into a man that she cared about very much. But Angel was not the same person that Angelus was. He wasn't the man who changed her. He wasn't the one who killed her family and friends.

As she curled up on the bed, Arianna wondered how much longer she would be able to stay here undetected. She'd been in France for almost a decade without arousing suspicion. It was doubtful that she would be able to stay for much longer. They always got suspicious of the young woman who lived alone and wasn't aging. Eventually, the rumours got started and she had to leave again. But that was the price she had to pay for being the immortal Slayer.

Where would she go this time? When she had all the time in the world, it wasn't so much a when as a where. England, she'd done that. She'd skipped across most of Europe already. Maybe she would go to Greece, she thought with a small smile. Greece would be wonderful to see. She always wanted to see the ancient architecture and the temples of old.

And maybe one day, she would go to America and see Angel again. One thing she knew was that her life—and his—would never be the same again.


	4. Propositioned

**Touching Darkness**

by the Lady of the Mists

Chapter Four: Propositioned

_Buffalo, New York, 2000_

"Come on, Anna, what's just one little drink?" Robin Tracey asked. Arianna grinned at one of the regulars at the bar that she was currently working as a bartender at. He wasn't too bad, a little rough when he got too drunk, but better than some of the others. "Take a little break, sit down and have a drink with me."

"Robin," she said with a smile at him, "you have been asking me the same question every night for over a year now. What makes you think that I am ever going to give you a different answer?" She gave him a smile before turning to get a drink for another customer.

"One day, Anna, you won't be able to resist me," Robin assured her. She shook her head as Margery, another bartender, came walking over to the two of them, overhearing Robin's last words.

"You're lucky that Arianna's so nice, Rob. If it was me that you were propositioning, I would've slammed a bottle over your head by now," she said dryly, causing Arianna to laugh. "Hey, sweetie, there's this guy that wants to talk to you. There in the business suit there," she added, pointing in the direction she was indicating. "Friend of yours?"

"Never saw him before," Arianna replied, shrugging as she looked at her friend. "Cover for me?"

"Don't I always?" Margery went to work as Arianna headed over to the guy. In the year that she had been in Buffalo, Arianna had managed to make a few friends that she hung out with and a decent paying job, which kept her in a decent apartment. Margery had helped her get the job and the apartment and while she was suspicious of why Arianna couldn't get out during the day, she didn't question it, for which Arianna was grateful. Margery was a nice girl who didn't deserve to get sucked into her freaky world. And apart from a few run-ins with vampires, Margery remained blissfully ignorant that there was anything strange about her or that the world that so many people believed they lived in didn't exist.

As she walked over to the guy, Arianna caught a whiff of nervousness and fear pouring off of him as if he were wearing perfume. "You the man who wanted to see me?"

"Are you Arianna Thornton?" he inquired. She nodded, surveying him carefully. From his carefully trimmed hair to his crisp suit to the carefully cleaned shoes, Arianna had to guess that this guy was an important businessman. "I'm Lindsey McDonald, from Wolfram and Hart." He handed her a card.

Taking it, Arianna gave it a once over. "Los Angeles? That's pretty far out of the way for you. So, Mr. McDonald, what can I do for you?"

"Perhaps if we could sit down and discuss this professionally over drinks?" Lindsey said smoothly. Arianna surveyed him, then shrugged, looking over at Margery.

"Hey, Margie, I'm taking a break, all right?" she called.

"Sure, I've got you covered," Margery called back.

Getting them both drinks, Arianna sat down at a clean table, sitting down across from Lindsey and taking a sip from the club soda that she had gotten for herself. Despite the century and a half that she had been alive, Arianna couldn't get used to alcoholic beverages. They turned her stomach even more than the stench of human blood.

"Let me get straight to it," Lindsey told her carefully. "My company and I have this little problem and we were hoping that you might be able to help us out with it."

"Me? A bartender?"

"You and I both know that you're a little bit more than that," Lindsey said quietly, pulling a folder out of his briefcase and handed it to Arianna. After taking a quick look at the lawyer, Arianna accepted it, opening it up to look through the folder.

"No bartender that I know was born in the 1840's, Miss Thornton," Lindsey said as she looked through it. "Quite a lot of information about you, including how you used to be a Slayer." Arianna glanced up before returning her attention to the information. "What interests me most is how you held your own personal war against Angelus until he turned you into a vampire."

Arianna said nothing as she closed the folder. "And how is it that you know about Slayers and vampires and other stuff, Mr. McDonald?" she asked, keeping her tone courteous.

"Most of our clients are some that . . . well, that are not exactly human," Lindsey answered with a small smirk.

"Meaning your clients are demons," Arianna said, not in the mood to play games. "Let's just cut to the chase. What do you want with me?"

"It concerns a certain problem of ours. We're having problems with this little detective agency, who keeps trying to bring us down. Problem is the head is supposed to play a major role in an apocalypse, but it's never said which side he's going to be on. And we'd much rather have him on our side. So we brought back someone from his past."

"Are we getting to the point of this anytime soon?" Arianna was getting bored, really fast.

Lindsey frowned, but otherwise overlooked it. "She was brought back as human and now dying from the same disease that she was dying from when she was turned."

Arianna's eyes flickered up to meet Lindsey. "And this woman that is from your enemy's past is . . .?"

"I believe you know her. Her name is Darla."

If it were possible, Arianna was sure that her blood would've turned cold at the mention of the name. "Darla," she repeated softly. Lindsey nodded. "And why would I want to help Darla?"

"I would think that reason would be obvious," Lindsey answered. "The man that runs the detective agency, the one we need to get rid of, is your sire."

Arianna was sure that her face went paler than usual at his words. "Angel," she said, her mouth suddenly dry.

--

As she walked around the offices in Wolfram and Hart, Arianna cast a glance out at the window, peering at the city of Los Angeles. Today was a series of firsts for her, she thought musingly as she stared down at the bustling city below her.

Going across the country with a strange man in order to find out what they wanted her help with concerning Angel and Darla . . .

Yeah, that was a first . . .

Flying in an airplane that had tinted windows to block her allergy to sunlight . . .

That was a first, too, but not a welcome one. Arianna discovered that even if she was able to go on planes without being exposed to the sun, she wouldn't, because the take-off was terrifying. She couldn't believe people actually used these everyday!

Oh, yeah, and being propositioned by evil lawyers . . . that too was a first.

But going out of her way to help Angel, despite what these lawyers thought? That wasn't a new one. She could've thrown him out of her house in France almost a century ago, but instead, she had taken him into her home and helped him back onto his feet. And it seemed that he was doing all right for himself; she had heard the stories that had spread about him in the Underworld and most of what she heard, she hoped were true.

"Miss Thornton?"

Arianna turned around, her brunette mane whipping around to hit her in the face as she saw that Lindsey had returned, along with brunette woman and an older man. She could smell the apprehension coming off of them in waves, even from across the room.

"About time," she commented as she moved away from the windows. "You know, if you want to do business with me, Mr. McDonald, you really shouldn't be keeping me waiting. It's rather rude, you know."

The older man chuckled at the look on Lindsey's face. "Our apologies, Miss Thornton. We'd only heard you'd just arrived. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Holland Manners and this Lilah Morgan." The woman nodded, but kept her distance. Whatever they had heard about her, Arianna noticed, made them wary of her. She wasn't sure if this pleased her or not. "Why don't we sit down and discuss this over drinks?"

Rich people and sitting down to drinks, Arianna thought in annoyance. It had annoyed her when she was alive and she didn't have much patience for it now. But instead of saying that, she replied, "I prefer hot tea, if you have it, Mr. Manners."

His smile faltered, then broadened. "We have drinks more to your preference, if you'd rather."

"I prefer not to go flaunting my abnormality, Mr. Manners," Arianna countered, enjoying making him look uncomfortable.

He paused, then nodded. "Lipton?" he queried as he nodded at the man who stood by the door.

"Sounds good," Arianna said as she sat down in the chair. About ten minutes later, she had a steaming cup of tea in her hands while the lawyers had their alcoholic beverages in their hands, taking their seats. "Now, what is it that I can do for you?"

"It's more what you can do for Darla," Manners said smoothly. "I trust that Lindsey has brought you up to date on her situation?" he asked, looking at his associate.

"He informed me that you brought Darla back from the dead to seduce Angel so you could turn him back into the bad boy he used to be and you brought her back as human," Arianna said, keeping her personal feelings about Darla out of this. The last thing that she needed was to have to bust out of a highly protected office building and have the police on her tail. "And that she's now dying because you failed to take into consideration that she would be picking up where she left off."

"Good, I'm glad that we're on the same page." Manners smiled at her like an uncle would his favourite niece. Arianna fought the urge to reach across and strike him with all of her strength. "I understand that you've been having to work lowly jobs for the past few years . . . well, quite a few years, actually. We'd be happy to help you out with the income, if that's what you need. So long as you help us out with our little problem."

Arianna leaned forward to look at Manners directly in the eyes. "You know, Mr. Manners, I tend to be a little less annoyed with people—especially humans—when they tell me exactly what it is that they want from me instead of telling me everything they can do for me and then tell me what they want from me. Why don't you explain why you brought me out here and then we'll work on the details, hmm?" She leaned back, folding her arms across her chest expectantly and cocking an eyebrow.

"It's simply this," Lindsey interrupted from across the room. Her blue-green eyes flickered towards him. "We want you to save Darla's life, since Angel refuses to."

"Save her life?" Arianna was puzzled. "Darla was dying from a bunch of different diseases, wasn't she? How could I possibly—?"

She stopped talking at the look on Lindsey's face and her eyes flickered to Lilah before resting on Manners.

Arianna felt sick, felt as though she were going to vomit all over the fine, exquisite, expensive carpet. "You want me to turn her back," she said, barely able to keep her voice steady. "You want me to do what Angel won't. You want me to turn her back into a vampire."

"No doubt you're wondering why we're asking you to do this," Manners said gently as she sank into the chair, her mind spinning. "We would prefer to keep this within the family. After all, this is a family matter and . . . well, as Darla's granddaughter . . ."

Trying to pull herself together, Arianna ran her fingers through her hair. "You are aware that I really do not like Darla?" she queried. Manners chuckled. "Why would I want to turn her back?"

"Because you have an obligation as her granddaughter," Manners replied. "And you don't turn your back on family."

Arianna looked at him sharply. "You're right," she agreed. "I don't. Couldn't do that even when I was human." But it was not Darla that she was going to help. "All right, let's say for a minute that I'm going to do this. What do I get out of it?"

"What would you like?" Manners inquired, looking happy that they had her on board. Or so they thought.

With a smile that would make Angelus proud, Arianna leaned forward. "The world," she said mockingly, making them all go pale. "That was a joke. I think that I'd settle for a nice house in the country. One of those big, old brick places that you see, you know? And a nice fence around it. And . . . maybe a few horses."

"I think that we can arrange that," Lindsey agreed with a quick look at his superior. "It seems we have an agreement, Miss Thornton."

"So it would seem," Arianna murmured.


	5. In Los Angeles

**Touching Darkness**

by the Lady of the Mists

Chapter Five: In Los Angeles

Arianna had never longed for night more than she had when she was pretty much held hostage by Wolfram and Hart—at least until dark came and she was able to make her escape under the pretence of going to find Darla. As far as they were knew, she was completely devoted to helping Darla instead of the other way around.

As she stepped out of the office building and into the city of Los Angeles, Arianna took a glance behind her before she climbed up onto one of the buildings and took off at superhuman speed, leaping between buildings and putting as much distance between her and Wolfram and Hart as possible. Only when she was at least ten blocks away did she finally jump back down onto the ground, startling a few people as she walked away towards a phone booth, pulling out some change and sliding it into the pay phone, dialling a long distance number.

Dialling to Buffalo.

Noticing a phone book as she waited for the phone to pick up, Arianna opened it up, flipping through the yellow pages under 'detective agencies,' just as someone picked up in Buffalo. "Hello?"

"Hi, Margery," she said, almost anticipating the young human girl's reaction to her casual tone.

"Arianna Thornton, where have you been?" she demanded. "You had me worried sick when you took off with that creepy guy last night and then you never came home, because I checked on you a couple of times, plus you didn't show up for work. And what was I supposed to tell Ruth? It's not like you to take off with a guy! You could've been kidnapped or hurt or attacked or something and I wouldn't even know—"

"Margie, relax, will you? I'm fine, I'm all right," Arianna said, almost rolling her eyes. "The thing is that I'm not going to be in work for a few days—or even home. I'm in L.A."

There was a pause on the phone before Margery finally found her voice. "Okay, let's rewind here, because funny, I could have just sworn that you said that you were in Los Angeles."

"That's because I did," Arianna said as her eyes trained on an ad in the phone booth. "Angel Investigations," she murmured, more to herself than to Margery, who heard her.

"What?"

"Nothing," Arianna said as she ripped the page out of the book. "Look, Margie, I'd love to explain what's going on here, but I don't really have all the details yet. All I know is that the guy who came in last night wants an old friend of mine possibly dead or worse and I have to help him."

"Him? This friend is a guy?"

"Yes, he's a guy," Arianna said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Listen, I can't explain right now, but I was just calling to let you know where I was and to tell Ruth I'm sorry I had to take off. Now, I got to go, I'm on a pay phone and I don't have a lot of change on me."

"Okay, just one second, Arianna, you can't just call me up after disappearing on me and expect me to accept this without putting my two-cents in," Margery said, obviously upset. "And why do I have to tell Ruth? You know that she hates my guts. Not to mention, she's probably going to fire you if you don't show up sometime tonight. But it's probably going to take a while to get back to Buffalo from L.A., right?" she added. "Why don't you just call her?"

"Margery!" Arianna was trying to dig for some more money, but all she had was some dollars and a couple nickels, not enough for some more phone time. "I got to go! I'll call you later, I promise."

"Wait a second, Ari—"

Before Margery could finish her sentence, the phone call was cut and Arianna sighed, hanging it back in the receiver as she looked down at the torn page in her hand, frowning down at the advertisement.

"Hyperion Hotel," she muttered, her eyebrows knitted together as she pushed her way out of the phone booth. As she headed down the street, trying to figure out where she was supposed to go, Arianna suddenly became aware that she was being followed.

_Three vampires,_ she thought without turning around, using both her Slayer and vampire senses to sense who and what they were. _Two of them on the ground, one on the rooftop. _

Arianna moved swiftly ahead, heading into an alleyway before she navigated her hand into her jacket pocket, removing two stakes and preparing herself for a fight.

Only when the two vampires on the ground had followed her into the alleyway did she turn around. "Hi, fellas," she said pleasantly. "You looking for a fight or something?"

"Slayer," the blond snarled at her, his fangs flashing in the nightlife of L.A. and his handsome face twisted into his vampire one.

"Not entirely," Arianna replied as she swung into action, moving into attack as the two vampires did the same thing. Ducking underneath the blond's punch, Arianna somersaulted over his friend before whipping around and plunging a stake into his heart. "Now, where was I?"

She walked towards the blond, who now seemed a bit unnerved. "What are you?" he whispered fearfully.

"I'm the Slayer," she reminded him. "And I'm also a vampire. Ah-ah-ah!" Moving around to block his escape as he tried to flee, she grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the wall. "Who sent you?"

The blond struggled against her, snarling. "James, get down here!" he screamed as another vampire dived almost in the back of her and Arianna pushed another stake underneath her arm to thrust it into James' heart before he could even make a move.

"One more time," she said warningly as she held up her stake. "Who sent you?"

"I don't know his name!"

"Wrong answer," she said, shaking her head disdainfully as she raised the stake, about to drive it into his heart when he stopped her.

"Wait, wait! All right, I'll talk!" Arianna held the stake threateningly, waiting. "Okay, I wasn't lying, I don't know what his name is, but I know he works for that law firm a couple blocks from here!"

If it were possible, Arianna's heart would've skipped a beat. "Wolfram and Hart, was that it?"

"Yeah! He said that he wanted to make sure that you did what you were supposed to do! We were just watching you, I swear!" The blond's eyes were fearful as Arianna slowly took a step back, regarding the vampire carefully as she crossed her arms.

"What did he look like?"

"Tall, brunette," the vampire blabbed, as if knowing that the longer he talked, the longer he would live. "He said that he hired you for some job and wanted to make sure you did it. He didn't trust you would do it!"

Arianna studied the vampire for a minute. "Thanks," she said quietly. The vampire looked relieved as he tried to skulk out of the alleyway. Seconds before he made his escape, however, a stake was thrown into his back, directly in his heart, and he was turned to dust.

"Bull's eye," Arianna muttered, who had thrown the stake. As she picked it up off the ground, she cast a quick look around to make sure that there was no one else following her before she headed down the street again, getting directions to make sure she was headed in the right direction.

--

She could feel him inside the building.

Arianna had _always_ been able to feel him, always been able to know that it was him, even before he had been cursed, and even almost a hundred years later, it was no different.

As she stood staring up at the hotel that carried her sire and friend, Arianna took a deep, un-necessary breath as she hoisted her bag higher onto her shoulder before heading inside.

The door had barely closed behind her before she saw him. He had his back to her, but he looked pretty much the same as he did the last time that she'd seen him. Of course, the clothes had changed and he donned a pretty much black outfit and his hair was shorter, spikier, but in a fashion that looked pretty spectacular on him.

"We're talking about Wolfram and Hart," Angel was saying as the door closed behind her. Arianna noticed immediately that Darla was with him as well as a pretty, brunette girl and a scruffy, young man. "Of course it's a trick. They're trying to play some kind of mind game."

"To what end?" the young man asked. Arianna noticed his British accent and peered closer to him, recognising him immediately from a couple years back when the Watchers' Council had stumbled upon her by accident.

"I don't know, but we're not going to take the bait," Angel replied as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce caught sight of Arianna and she shook her head once, staying out of the conversation until necessary.

"No, you just don't want to believe it, that's all," Darla retorted, giving him a hard look.

"I don't want to believe anything from them."

"It's true, they can't really be trusted," Wesley acknowledged.

"I don't trust them," Darla answered coolly. "But I know a thing or two about mind games. So do you," she added. "We played them together for over a century."

"Yes, but you were just soulless, bloodsucking demons," the girl pointed out brightly. "They're lawyers."

"She's right," Angel agreed. "We were amateurs."

Darla glanced sideways at him. "And if you're wrong?"

"I'm not," Angel insisted. Arianna shook her head in exasperation; whatever the lawyers weren't telling her earlier when she was there, they had been telling the truth about Darla's illness. She'd seen the medical files herself. "And I'm gonna prove it to you. Can you guys just watch over her for awhile?" he asked in an undertone to Wesley and the girl. "I'll be back soon."

"You don't need to go anywhere," Arianna said, finally announcing her presence. Everyone spun around at her voice, but she kept her eyes on Angel, who recognised her immediately, a surprised smile spreading across his face. "Hi, Angel. How you been?"

"Arianna!" He looked startled as she completed her journey down the steps and he scooped her up into a hug. Arianna returned the embrace, glad to see that he looked much better than the last time that she'd seen him, in Paris. "I don't believe . . . what are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too," Arianna said, giving him a wry smile, which he returned.

"I didn't mean I wasn't glad to see you, it's just that now's not really a good time, we've got a whole thing—"

"Right, let me see if I got the whole thing," Arianna said. "Evil law firm resurrected Darla to get you to turn back evil, now she's dying from various diseases and they want you to turn her back?" She smiled at his dubious expression. "I know, they already told me all about it when they brought me out here from Buffalo to do the job for you."

Darla looked disgusted. "They brought a Slayer out here to turn me back?" she said, revolted. "I think I'd rather just stay human rather than have you do it."

Glaring at the blonde, Arianna pulled out of Angel's embrace to fold her arms across her chest. "I _never_ liked you, did I?" she queried. Darla smirked smugly and shook her head. "Yeah, that's what I thought," she muttered as the girl looked at her suspiciously.

"Uh . . . Angel, who exactly is this?"

"I'm Arianna Thornton," she said with a smile towards the brunette and Wesley. "You I know. You I don't, but I'm assuming Cordelia?" she asked, looking at Angel for confirmation. He nodded, surprised that she knew that piece of information. "You'd be surprised how much information streams all the way to Buffalo."

"That's where you've been the last couple years?"

"About four years now," Arianna admitted as she smiled at Angel. "You look good. A lot better than the last time I saw you."

Angel chuckled, obviously remembering as his eyes drifted towards where his necklace still hung around her neck. "You look good, too," he said. "Did you cut your hair?"

"About fifty years ago," she said teasingly as Wesley cleared his throat.

"Not to be rude, but shouldn't we be focusing on the problem at hand here?" he inquired. "Miss Thornton, how do you know that Wolfram and Hart aren't playing mind games?"

"That guy Lindsey showed me the medical records," Arianna explained. "Whatever else they're lying about, it's not that you're dying," she told Darla. "He had about ten different doctors check it out, all with the same story. Call me pessimistic, but I don't think that they'd be going to this much trouble if she weren't dying."

A pause fell over the lobby and the five looked at each other before Angel stood up. "I've got an idea."


End file.
